Back to civilization, we got on the bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Christine and I were delighted to bump into the cute "Waterfall Boys," the ones we’d met at the Luang Prabang waterfall. Tommer, Matt and Ben were our buddies in Vientiane. We planned to find a guesthouse together, although those long-term travelers and we short-term vacationers had two very different budgets in mind. Christine wispers, “You mean this isn’t backpacking?” referring to our $20-30 USD guesthouses a night--a noticeable downgrade compared to Christine’s previous trip to Thailand (sleeping in fancy hotels), and a substantial upgrade for me (thinking about my last trip to SE Asia, sweating in non-airconditioned cells). “No,” I explain, “Backpacking” is what these boys are doing. They're sleeping in dorm rooms on bunk beds, sharing a communal shower down the hall, and paying $5 US a night. We agreed it was worth the extra $7 each to have a lock on our door and air con, so we followed the boys to the cheapest hostel in the book, and Christine and I splurged on the guesthouse across the street.
(Christine, Tommer, Ben, Matt, Me & Ross sip on fruit shakes at Sabaidee Cafe)
For a capital city, Vientiane was only semi-bustling. There was not much to see and do in Vientiane, except hang out with our travel buddies, the Waterfall Boys, Ross (the cute Hollywood actor / ex snowboard pro), and the Irish peeps (Glenn & the girls). We took it easy, and enjoyed a relaxing meal along the riverfront at sunset and gazed at Thailand on the other side. We also found a hotel nightclub, and watched some old white dudes try their luck with the Lao ladies-Eeewwe.
We rented motorbikes the next day and zoomed over to Xieng Khuan, known as “Buddha Park" to see the larger-than-life sized statues of Buddha and other deities.
In one monument, we crawled through three floors, hell, earth, and heaven, to reach the beautiful panoramic views of the park.
We also zipped over to Pha That Luang to admire the golden lotus petals and small stupas of Pha That Luang.
1 comment:
So many memories come flooding back from reading this. Cant believe its December already. Still in Sydney living it up. Our paths might just cross again Jules...who knows!!!
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